Last March, Breakout Kings debuted to an A&E record-breaker — a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 2.8 million viewers overall. The numbers had come down quite a bit by the finale (0.8 in the demo with 2.01 million) but the season’s performance was still good enough for A&E to give Breakout Kings a second season.

Starring Laz Alonso and Domenick Lombardozzi as a pair of United States Marshals who make deals with prisoners to catch escaped convicts (including Prison Break’s T-Bag), the second season of Breakout Kings is now set to return on Sunday, March 4th. The first season had 13 installments but there are only 10 episodes this time around.

Here’s the press release from A&E:

A&E’S HIT ORIGINAL DRAMA SERIES ‘Breakout Kings’ RETURNS FOR ITS SECOND SEASON SUNDAY, MARCH 4 AT 10PM ET/PT

THIS SEASON, A KING WILL FALL

NEW YORK, NY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012 – A&E Network’s original scripted drama series, “Breakout Kings,” returns for an action-packed second season with ten all-new episodes, premiering on Sunday, March 4 at 10PM ET/PT. From Matt Olmstead and Nick Santora, writers/producers of the hit series “Prison Break,” “Breakout Kings” follows an unconventional partnership between the U.S. Marshals’ office and a group of convicts as they work to catch fugitives on the run.

In “Breakout Kings,” veteran U.S. Marshals Charlie Duchamp (Laz Alonso, Avatar, Fast and the Furious 4: Fast & Furious) and Ray Zancanelli (Domenick Lombardozzi, “The Wire,” “Entourage”) decide to reject protocol and take an unorthodox approach to their work: using former criminals to catch current ones. They form a special task force composed of the three most elusive convicts Ray ever captured: Lloyd Lowery (Jimmi Simpson, “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,”), a former child prodigy and behaviorist/psychiatric expert who excels in psychoanalysis; Shea Daniels (Malcolm Goodwin, American Gangster), an ex-gang banger who knows how to work the system, both in prison and on the street; and Erica Reed (Serinda Swan, Tron: Legacy, “Smallville”), a sexy expert tracker who learned her trade from her bounty hunter father. Charlie and Ray also employ the services of Julianne Simms (Brooke Nevin, “Worst Week”), a civilian who acts as the “funnel” for the group – all information, tips and data go through her.

In the season premiere, entitled “An Unjust Death,” the “Breakout Kings” are back on the job and in pursuit of Damien (guest-star Jason Behr, “Roswell”), a particularly ruthless and vicious serial killer. Lloyd was the doctor on the case that put Damien away eight years prior and the bad blood between them runs deep. In the midst of the investigation, the group learns that Charlie has been offered a promotion, leaving them uncertain about their future and the fate of the entire program. But as the pursuit of Damien intensifies, tragedy strikes and one of the Kings pays the ultimate price, forcing the remaining members of the close-knit team to cope with an unimaginable loss.

“Breakout Kings” premiered as the most-watched original drama series in A&E’s history among Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

“Breakout Kings” is a production of Fox 21. The series is created, written and executive-produced by Matt Olmstead (“Prison Break”) and Nick Santora (“Prison Break”). Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope and Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) also serve as executive producers.

About A&E Network
A&E is “Real Life. Drama.” Now reaching more than 99 million homes, A&E is television that you can’t turn away from; where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment ranging from the network’s original scripted series, including “The Glades” and “Breakout Kings,” to signature non-fiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning “Intervention,” “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” “Hoarders,” “Beyond Scared Straight” and “Storage Wars,” and the most successful justice shows on cable, including “The First 48.” The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the second season of Breakout Kings?

Image courtesy A&E.